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Friday, June 08, 2012

Fear the Deer [and a really cute picture of me]

Once upon a time, I was terrified of a deer.

Yes, a deer, a precious little Bambi frolicking in the
forest with bunnies and squirrels. And I
was convinced it WAS GOING TO MURDER ME!

When I was a child, our family vacations consisted of
cramming what seemed like everything we owned into the back of the truck and
driving to Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee. There were bicycles, flip-flops, coolers,
sleeping bags, tents, bags of charcoal, and, of course the best part,
popsicles! You know, those kinds that
come in a box in liquid form that you can freeze, cut the plastic end off, and
suck all the “juice” from? (If you’ve
never heard of those, I’m truly sorry for your loss.)

So, off we went, looking like a redneck band of gypsies, but
ready for a week of awesome fun for only $8 a night!!!

There is a stretch of road between Nashville and Pikeville
that still makes my stomach churn and my heart race. Usually, Dad would drive the truck (which he
could barely see out of because of all the stuff packed in there) pulling the
camper, and Mom and us girls would ride in the van following him. I was always worried that the camper was going
to somehow separate from the truck and come rolling backward right at us. (EVEN THOUGH my father was the most careful
“fastener” known to man. I promise you
there are things in my mother’s house that will forever be affixed to the wall
because of the all the nails/screws/glue that was used.) Following the truck, I would tense up as we
started up that steep hill, because you
know that pulling the camper up the steel hill means there is more of a
chance it will disengage and come crashing right into us! But every time, despite me holding my breath
(or maybe because of it), we made it to the top unharmed.

One particular year, we camped with my cousin’s family. My sister and I had to contend with two boys,
much rougher than us, for a whole week.
While we had a blast going to the playground, riding bicycles, and
hiking, there were a few times that were not so fun. And this was one of those. I call it… The Deer Incident.

Michael and I were playing in the woods, and I don’t really
remember why now, but nevertheless, that’s where we were. Little
did I know I was about to meet my doom.
Suddenly, I saw it. Those
eyes. The antlers. The bigger-than-a-bear body.

Now one would think that since my tougher-than-me cousin was
there, he would don his superman cape and save the day. Not so with this one. Nope.
What did my macho cousin do?

He left.

That boy got on his bicycle and rode away without even
looking back!

And there I was, all alone, sure that this evil monster was
about to have his dinner. (Ok, so I
didn’t know that deer don’t eat little girls.
Clearly, my education did not cover this aspect of wildlife. Not my fault!) I looked all around, frantic for a
solution. Where could I go? Was there a
way out? Desperate, I sought solace with
the only option I had at the time…

The men’s bathroom.

Yeeeeees, it’s just a room with four walls and a door like
every other room, but to a 10-year-old girl, going into the men’s bathroom was sinful!
But what other choice did I have?
I was not going to stand by and let this flesh-eating killer take me as
his own! So I did it. I ran into that bathroom and slammed the
door!

And I waited.

And waited…

The windows were so high that I couldn’t see out, so I had
no way of knowing when the coast was clear.
So I just had to stand there, hoping against all hope that nobody felt the
call of nature while I was in there.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, I had to muster
enough courage to at least peek around the door to see if it was safe. Surely that deer found some other
unsuspecting human to munch on! Besides,
it was getting dark and we all know it gets dark in the woods pretty
quickly.

Slowly, I crept out, eyes darting, scanning the area
carefully. Breathing a sigh of relief to
find that I was alone, I ran to my bicycle as quickly as I could and
high-tailed it out of there! Back to
camp I went, only to find out later that Michael had been back for a while and
hadn’t bothered to mention that I might have possibly lost my life to a wild
animal in the wilderness!

Of course, I know now that my fears were completely unfounded. That deer had no more interest in me than I
had in standing in the men’s bathroom for two hours. I saw him there, but he was not a threat to
me.

Isn’t that how fear works?
Things we see become much worse than they are, and pretty soon we’re
frantically looking for a way out.

Yet we have this promise:

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and
he delivers them. (Psalm 34:7 NIV)

Child of the Most High, you have no reason to fear
today. The God of the universe calms all
fears and protects you from all harm!
Stop hiding in the bathroom and stand with confidence!

What a story! Thank you for sharing! Fear does have a tendency to grab a hold of us and then our imagination tends to keep it going! The Lord is our Rock and Strong Tower, thankfully! Stoppin by from Coffee Time ;) www.simplyhelpinghim.com

I love so much about this - your telling of the story took me right back to funny family vacation moments (the "fastener" - our Dads would have gotten along well) and right back to those childhood feelings. I'll keep this word picture with me, Katie. Thanks for the encouragement!

I had a similar fear of foxes, but somehow I LOVED The Fox and the Hound. I remember once when I saw a fox in the field by our house, I was terrified, and I refused to be near that field alone for many years after that. My mom and dad told me that foxes were more afraid of us than we are of them, but I was SO NOT CONVINCED!

What you say about fear is so true! We fear what we don't know more than what we know, and usually that fear is all in our head. We let it build and fester until it handicaps us.